Amid questions and confusion, these families impressed by educators' back-to-school efforts

With the first few days of school out of the way, families are taking time to reflect on if the stress leading up to schools reopening matches the reality of their reopening.

CBC spoke to a number of families who shared their thoughts on Thursday afternoon.

'Our experience is divided'

Peter Riddihough says his daughters, who attend Queensdale Elementary and Westmount Secondary in Hamilton, are loving school.

But as he tries to get information about school updates from his West Mountain home, frustration persists. 

"Our experience is divided," Riddihough explained.

"We've been confident from the get-go that our actual school can do everything it can to manage the situation. The issue we've had and continue to have ... I am still not able to connect to the Parent Portal."

His daughters both said their schools were organized, unlike Riddihough's experience with the online system.

The public school board has admitted the Parent Portal has numerous issues and said it continues to work through those problems.

Kids are 'excited' to return to school

Despite school being "eerily" quiet when she initially dropped her kids off on Day 1, Kim Dias said her two kids — who learn in Caledonia with the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board — are excited to be back in class.

"I don't have anything bad to say about our school ... I'm happy they took the time and staggered. My Grade 7 boy, he only had three kids in his class on the first day," she explained.

"The second day, I think he said he had seven kids."

Dias said her sons are starting to develop routines again, but not everything is the same.

"Recess is certainly a bit of a change for them because they're stuck with their class in squares or designated areas in the playground, but overall it's better to be there than learn from home," she noted.

"My youngest actually practiced for a few days leading up to school and wore his mask around the house."

'We've had a few tears'

Bob Waterhouse is a retired teacher helping Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board get students through the screening attestation process. He's also giving children their timetables and reminding them of COVID-19 protocols within schools.

He said reopening efforts have been successful.

"It's been very well done. Everyone has been really flexible and creative."

Waterhouse has helped teens in Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School and Dundas Valley Secondary School. His main focuse has been to guide them through the school's technology and navigate the board's online programs.

"This year I've noticed anxiety higher than usual, in parents and teachers and kids. We've had a few tears, but that's to be expected. Kids saying, 'I don't know where to go, I don't know how to get on this link,' " he explained.

"They want their life to be normal and these times are not normal ... the biggest challenge is learning the culture of the school and understanding some schools have different socioeconomic and diversity issues than others."

Waterhouse said everyone has adapted despite being out of classes for months and returning to a drastically different setting — he said halls are still, sports teams have vanished, extracurriculars aren't around. But there are still positives.

"What's gratifying to see is the relationship between the staff and the kids ... Can a kid see you smile behind a mask and can I see a kid smile behind a mask? And you can."

New school year is 'not the greatest'

Ryan Boyd is in his second-year of the journalism program at Mohawk College.

His experience doing online learning is "not the greatest."

"I did do summer classes and just doing that, it was awful. Teachers didn't really care, they weren't responding quickly to emails. They were just giving good marks, no matter what you input," he said.

"This one assignment I did the night before, probably in 45 minutes. I got a 95 per cent on it. The best I thought I was going to get on it was a 75."

As for the fall semester, he said it eliminates a lot of opportunities he has to use brand new equipment.

"It sucks not being able to go in," he explained.

His mother teaches in Hamilton's Catholic school board. Boyd says she doesn't get to interact with students the way she used to.

"For Good Friday, she normally brings in a bread maker and at this rate, she probably won't be able to do it."

Educators have been 'amazing'

Carla Vanderdeen-Fenech has three kids who attend St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School. Two of her kids have disabilities.

"A lot got messed up with COVID. There's usually a process with special needs kids where you have a meeting and review things so things are in place for September," she said.

Vanderdeen-Fenech was concerned the disorganization would seep into her kids start to the school year.

Her oldest son, who lives with autism, started having panic attacks thinking about returning to a transformed school experience, especially since he became used to staying home for months.

While he is still adjusting, Vanderdeen-Fenech said staff have been "amazing" in their communication and planning to get her kids back in class.

"Overall, I can't complain. The school's communication has been fabulous and that's key for a lot of parents," she said.

Attention parents, students and teachers: We want to hear from you!

We hope you'll use this form to tell us about school conditions, how classes are going or whatever other pressing issues are on your mind this September in Hamilton, Niagara, St. Catharines and Burlington.